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14th General Election

For those who are watching and guessing when GE14 will take place, this bit of news will only intensify the guessing game. I have just received an email from Parliament stating that there will be a Parliament sitting from 5th March to 5th April. Will the redelineation exercise be pushed through in Parliament and an election called quickly thereafter? This means that GE14 may take place as early as late March 2018.

My guess is there is a 20% chance of a March election. A 30% chance it will be in April or early May. Note that Ramadhan starts on 15th May and therefore there is a 50% chance of an election in late June or later in July or August.

Note too that the Parliament term officially ends on 23rd June 2018. If we do not have an election by August 23rd 2018, the country will go into emergency rule.

In the last hour of the convention, Pakatan Harapan made the following three major announcements:

1. PM designate will be Dr. Mahathir and Dato Seri Wan Azizah as the DPM designate;

2. Upon winning GE14, Pakatan Harapan will immediate seek a full royal pardon for Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim and make him the immediate PM designate; and

3. All the Parliamentary West Malaysian seats have been settled with Bersatu to contest in 52 seats, PKR 51 seats, DAP 35 seats and Amanah 27 seats.

These are very significant announcements as they put an end to the disruptive ambitions of a pretender, resolves cleanly the history of Anwar & Mahathir and galvanised most of the Pakatan Harapan leaders to unite and prepare for GE14.

Kak Wan gave an emotional speech and Dr. Mahathir reciprocated by acknowledging the pain the Anwar family had to endure when Anwar was put in jail during his rule. Those in attendance were deeply touched by both speeches. It was a genuine and heartfelt reconciliation of the two leaders.

The earliest likely date for GE14 is late April or early May. The seat settlement in West Malaysia means that Pakatan Harapan can now concentrate and mobilise resources for at least 4 months ahead of GE14. In comparison, for GE13 seat negotiations went on until the 11th hour and even after agreement, PAS still reneged on 3 seats. In short, we are much more united and prepared this coming GE without PAS.

On the issue of PAS, Tan Sri Muhyiddin concluded that the boat has sailed for PAS to join Pakatan Harapan. He said PAS is committed to “berkhalwat” (close proximity) with UMNO/BN.

So for all the propaganda that the Opposition cannot bury the past and that we cannot negotiate in good faith, well today we have proven BN completely wrong. Najib, Rosmah and whoever who still wants to negotiate with PAS will have sleepless nights.

I went to the convention with low expectations and left fully rejuvenated and ready to take on UMNO/BN. Lawan tetap lawan!

The second half of the convention started off with rousing speeches from some senior leaders. Mat Sabu and Lim Guan Eng gave very good speeches, promising a multiracial country free from corruption. Kak Wan and Dr. Mahathir will give the closing speeches. Anticipation is high for one or two major announcements at the closing stages.

The convention kicked off at 9.30 am. It is being held in IDCC. Apparently Pakatan Harapan failed to secure the SACC hall. The SACC is wholly owned by the Selangor government’s PKNS.

Senior leaders led by Dr. M and Dr. Wan Aziziah walked into the hall at around 9.45 am. At the front of the pack were Mat Sabu, Lim Guan Eng and Muhyiddin. Azmin Ali made a short appearance and left the hall.

The morning session are speeches by representatives of youth, women, civil servants, Felda and farmers. Aishah the singer belted out a Malay traditional song. The event is expected to end at 6.pm today.

I have been getting quite a lot of questions and messages from supporters the last few days regarding the issue of Dr. M being the designated Pakatan Harapan PM candidate.

Firstly, I am not involved in this issue. Like many junior first term MP, I learnt about the decision of senior Pakatan leaders from the news. I did hear snippets of the plan a few weeks ago. If the current crop of leaders want to pursue deals, then they must learn to be accountable for their decisions.

My task for this coming election, if chosen by PKR to be a candidate, is to defend and deliver a victory in Kelana Jaya. I have delivered the alternative budget and economic policies for Pakatan and I do not see any additional role for me beyond that. I will from now until GE14, give my full efforts to INVOKE Malaysia to ensure that as many clean politicians are elected to office.

I have spoken many times that the mood is not great. I also recognise that corruption and abuses of power are systemic problems that can infect federal and state governments. The culture of money politics runs much deeper than I ever imagined back in 2009, when I first joined PKR. We had great hopes in 2008 and 2013. Yet, I urge all to continue to have faith because to opt out will be much, much worse.

Instead of giving up, I decided 4 years ago to start my own internship program. If I have to tolerate and put up with lousy politics, why not invest my time productively in training a new generation of leaders.

I teach my interns public policy and community work. But what I really teach them is to defend their principles and idealism. We can overcome any obstacle with hard work and by embracing a culture of continuous improvements. I tell my interns to go to the private sector first and learn professional skills. I lecture them on the need to have sufficient money first, before entering politics.

I recently read an interesting quote; “it is good to be able to predict and analyse the future, it is however far better to influence and change it”. So, I am not going to lose sleep on Dr. M as PM, nor defend or apologise for it. It is beyond my control. What I can control and do, is to use my time productively to plan a better future for Malaysia.